In a delightful turn of events, pop sensation Harry Styles, has bought a “masterpiece” for a modest £6 ($7.6 approx). Styles was drawn to comedian and artist Joe Lycett’s humorous spoof of David Hockney’s portrait of himself, which resulted in an unexpected purchase that left fans in awe. Fans noticed amusing comparisons between Styles and comedian Alan Carr, but Styles quickly accepted the parody portrait and responded with humor.
The story of the masterpiece started with a portrait of Styles by renowned British artist David Hockney which was humorously turned into a parody by Lycett. The original painting was going to be displayed at the prestigious National Portrait Gallery as part of Hockney’s most recent exhibition, David Hockney: Drawing from Life . Nobody anticipated that Lycett’s satirical version of Styles’ portrait would become the center of attention.
Fans couldn’t help but notice an obvious resemblance to the well-known comedian, Alan Carr, rather than the adored heartthrob himself when Lycett revealed the humorous spoof on social media. A person with the handle @sarah_lou_ise wrote in the comment section, “I’m getting Alan Carr vibes personally.” @stelladore_gallery wrote, “It looks more like Alan Carr!”
The artwork gained popularity very quickly, sparking lots of memes and jokes on many social media platforms. Styles, with his unique sense of humor, chose to embrace the spoof wholeheartedly and make the artwork his own among all the jokes and comparisons.
Lycett and Styles engaged in a friendly, entertaining haggle over the cost of the portrait in an adorable text messages exchange. The comedian added a hilarious touch by offering a KitKat thick peanut butter to sweeten the sale after ultimately settling for just $7.6.
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The screenshots of the conversation were shared by Lycett. Styles wrote, “I think it’s incredibly important that I purchase this portrait from you. If you’d ever consider parting with this masterpiece I’d like to hang it in my home immediately.” Joe replied, “I’ll give it to you for £8 ($10.20),” before Styles suggested £6 ($7.60). Lycett then said, “£6.50 ($8.2) final offer.”
“Or £6 ($7.60) and a KitKat chunky peanut butter.” Harry playfully said that a KitKat was not worth 50p, but he happily accepted the offer and finalized the deal with a BACS transfer. Lycett captioned the post, “Long story short I just organised a £6 ($7.60) BACS transfer with Harry Styles.”
When Lycett first unveiled the artwork, he used a photo that had been edited from Harry’s visit to David Hockney’s Normandy studio, reports Daily Mail. He captioned the images, “A few months ago I was contacted by management for Harry Styles asking whether I would consider doing his portrait. I didn’t really know of his celebrity at the time so I said yes but I wish I hadn’t cause the whole thing has been a disaster.”
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He added, “He came to my holiday home in Padstow and sat for two days but I only spent about 20 minutes on the picture in the end cause I had an issue with my russell hobbs fridge/freezer and so I had to defrost it and I realized there was some diced goat going off so I made massaman curry.” He continued, “Anyway, I thought I’d done a good job of the pic but his management was quite cross and one of them said ‘It’s Harry Styles not Jeremy Beadle’s face on a fucking egg’ and Harry just awkwardly kept saying it was an honor to meet me whilst not eating his curry.”
Further stating, “They didn’t take the painting so I spoke to the National Portrait Gallery on the phone and they said they don’t take unsolicited submissions and it was hard to make a judgment on a call so I went in in person and the girl on the desk was really nice but said she wasn’t sure I was what they were looking for and she also said she didn’t want any goat massaman curry because she’s a vegetarian.”
Harry’s Portrait by David Hockney The painting will be part of the National Portrait Gallery’s ‘David Hockney: Drawing From Life’ exhibition and is considered the ‘crown jewel’ of it. Open November 2nd to January 24th 2024. pic.twitter.com/wvRxpVAyJ4
— Harry Styles Updates. (@TheHarryNews) August 2, 2023
References:
https://www.geo.tv/latest/503574-harry-styles-buys-joe-lycetts-painting-of-him-for-6
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvjqOhzIyNW/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
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